Indian foreign secretary meets Hasina

Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh Wednesday met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed bilateral issues as well as the tense political situation in the country ahead of the Jan 5 general elections.

Singh, on her first visit to Dhaka after taking over in August, also met Jatiya Party chairman H.M. Ershad, who has announced a boycott of the elections.

She also met opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, also chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Sujatha Singh, asked by reporters about her discussion with Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, declined to divulge anything.

"I had an excellent meeting with the foreign minister," she said.

Hasina's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed reporters about the meeting with Singh, held at the Prime Minister's Office.

Hasina termed poverty as the common enemy of the region and underscored the need for working together to eradicate the menace and improve the lives of people.

Earlier, Singh held a half-an-hour meeting at the foreign ministry with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, of the interim government.

A special aircraft of the Indian Air Force, carrying the foreign secretary, landed at Shahjalal International Airport around 10.25 a.m.

On her arrival, Singh was greeted by her Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque and Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran.

Her visit comes as Bangladesh is witnessing widespread violence with the BNP-led 18-party opposition-sponsored 131-hour countrywide blockade of roads, rail and waterways entering the fifth day Wednesday.

The BNP and its allies are pushing for postponement of the polls.

The UN too has voiced deep concern over the escalation of political violence in Bangladesh.

The BNP-led opposition combine has threatened the Hasina government with an "even tougher agitation programme" if its demands are not met by Thursday.

The opposition is demanding cancellation of the 10th parliamentary elections schedule, release of detained opposition leaders and installation of a non-party caretaker government to oversee the next parliamentary election.